Optimizing Media-when to do

[Cyrus Dowlatshahi]

Okay I got it.

If you do not transcode to ProRes when you import your footage, you’re editing the native h264/AVCHD files. But as soon as you add an effect (and color balancing/correcting/grading is an effect), FCP X will transcode that clip (whatever you apply an effect to) to ProRes 422 (or whatever codec you specified in your Project Properties under Audio and Render Properties; can be Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2, ProRes 422, ProRes 422 (HQ) or ProRes 4444).

This presumably means that when it comes to color correction, the whole editing-H264-natively-in-FCP X thing won’t be any different than when we color correct our DSLR footage in FCP 7: we have the same abilities/limitations in the 4:2:0 color space as before.

[Craig Seeman]

But when it comes to keying, many keyers have filters to handle 4:1:1 or 4:2:0 source footage. I’m not sure all programs are equal getting from point A to point B. While Resolve may handle this well I’m not so sure FCPX does (or that it doesn’t . . . and I’d rather be cautious).

[Nate Weaver]

[Eben Abbaan] “won’t be any different than when we color correct our DSLR footage in FCP 7: we have the same abilities/limitations in the 4:2:0 color space as before.”

Yes and no. FCP7 never did color calculations/image processing in 32bit float, I don’t believe.

But yes to the 4:2:0 part. Just because you processed the 4:2:0 image in a 4:4:4 bucket doesn’t mean it makes it better, other than the fact than you can be assured it didn’t make it any worse.

Nate Weaver
Director/D.P., Los Angeles
https://www.nateweaver.net

[Simon Ubsdell]

Here’s what the manual has to say on the subject if that’s any use:

Create optimized media: This option transcodes video to the Apple ProRes 422 codec format, which provides better performance during editing, faster render times, and better color quality for compositing.

Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com

[Rahul Duggal]

I think that optimized media improves the color correction abilities of H.264 media. Apart from that I dont see how it could actually IMPROVE visual quality of the video.

[Daniel Rutledge]

My two cents is that in FCP 7 I have personally done side by side tests to see the difference in color correcting h.264 vs ProRes 422(HQ) and the results were absolutely better with ProRes. This was not a minor difference that was possibly subjective in nature. I shot well lit footage with a 7D using the Cinestyle picture style. The test I was conducting was really to see the results of color correcting cinestyle. I was in such a hurry to get started that I didn’t log and transfer to Prores like I normally do. I just dragged the native file directly into final cut. As I performed my corrections, I couldn’t believe the level of banding it introduced. Also, I could see large picture blocks getting outrageously different values as I increased contrast. Then it hit me; I needed to transcode my source footage. I then performed my grade, and it produced the most beautiful footage I had ever seen come out of a DSLR. I copied my grade to the identical native clip and it produced the same blockiness and banding.

Its not a matter of making the footage better. When you transcode, I think it does smooth some of the sub pixel problems visible in h.264 (but I’d be willing to admit I may be wrong about that). What ProRes provides is a platform that has the color space to allow grading. Is it as accurat or flexible as if you shot in a raw codec or even a native codec that uses intra frame compression? No. Does it improve effects and color correction? Absolutely yes.

Haha… I just came to this thread because I’m switching over my company’s edit suite to FCP X and I wanted find out if I needed to create optimized media to get the same results in CC. I basically want to know if I will get the same result if I work natively, apply my grade, and then it gets rendered as prores as I would if I transcoded at the beginning. We work with huge amounts of media and background rendering will create more data than I would like to deal with. I’m hoping to end up creating net less data by working natively. Anyone?

[Dallas Bryant]

Daniel, did you ever experiment to find out what looks better in final product, or get an answer on your statement “I basically want to know if I will get the same result if I work natively, apply my grade, and then it gets rendered as prores as I would if I transcoded at the beginning”?